Automatic fire-alarm telegraph



(No Model.) I 2 Sheets- -Sheet 1. M. MARTIN-8t J; 0. WILSON.

AUTOMATIC FIRE ALARM TELEGRAPH.

Patented Nov. 3, 1885.

(N0 ModeL) 2 ShetS-Sheet 2.

M. MARTIN &"J. 0. WILSON. AUTOMATIC FIRE ALARM TELEGRAPH.

No. 329,468. Patented Nov. 3, 1885.

60211 20653 6 jar/677120735. W gimme Mawln/ (2 W Java? 64 wv'awrf eUNITED STATES PATENT OFETCE.

MORRIS MARTIN, OF MALDEN, AND JOHN CORNELIUS \VILSON, OF BOSTON,

MASSACHUSETTS.

AUTOMATIC FIRE-ALARM TELEGRAPH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNo. 329,468, dated November3, 1885.

Application filed April 28, 18P4. Serial No. 129,525. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, 1VIORRIS MARTIN, of Malden, Middlesex county, andJOHN C. WIL- soN, of Boston, Suffolk county, State of Mas- 5 saehusetts,have invented an Improvement in Automatic Fire-Alarm Telegraphs, ofwhich the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representinglike parts.

Our invention is embodied in a local firealarm apparatus, or one locatedin a building or collection of buildings or apartments; and the objectof the invention is to provide for the announcement at any given point,within or without the building, of the locality in which a fire hasbroken out, and also to announce by a distinct signal any derangement ofthe cireuit over which the signals are transmitted.

The apparatus is composed, mainly, of the following elements: first, aseries of separate signaling-instruments, which may be of the kind knownas annunciator-drops, one being controlled from each apartment orportion of the building or group of buildings from which it is intendedto send a distinct signal, the said drops of themselves constitutingvisual signals; second, a transmitting instrument consisting of aclock-work or motor, the operation of which is controlled by the saiddrops,

and which is adapted to transmit a series of different signals, onecorresponding to each drop, the selection of the said signals, as wellas the operation of the transmitter, being con- 3 5 trolled by the saiddrops, so that when a drop falls the transmitter begins to operate, andwill continue to produce repeatedly an audible signal corresponding tothat of the'drop that has fallen, the said drops being, for ex- 40ample, distinguished by numbers, and the audible signal being a gongwhich will indicate the same number by taps, as in the wellknownfire-alarm telegraph-signals. The motor of the transmitter is alsocontrolled by the 5 same circuit as the annunciators, but independentlythereof, in such a manner that the breaking or grounding of the circuitor the weakening of the current will cause the said motor to operate,and it will in thus operating produce a signal distinct from thefire-alarm 5o signals, to indicate that the circuits or battery requireinspection. Other devices are also employed, which will be more fullydescribed, by which in the event of the weakening of the battery orgrounding of the circuit the transmitter will still be enabled totransmit a signal upon the breaking out of a fire. Automatic fire-alarmapparatus has been devised in which a number of independent circuitscontrolled or affected by changes in temperature have included visualsignals or annunciators that indicate which circuit has been affected,and the said circuits have also controlled a transmitter common to allof them,

, for sending a signal to a remote station; but

in such apparatus the visual signals and the transmitter were whollyindependent of one another in their operation, and the transmittedsignal does not depend, either for its charactor or its operation, uponthe visual signals.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the visual signals and transmitter foraudible signals; Fig. 2, a side elevation of one of thevisual signals orannunciator-drops; Figs. 3 and 4, details to be referred to; Fig. 5, afront elevation of the audible signal, and Fig. 6 a dia- 'gram of thecircuits.

'signals a are shown as annuneiator-drops of usual construction, havingtheir coils in a normally-closed electric circuit, but the said coilsbeing normally shunted by a circuit of low resistance, so that theirmagnets are normally demagnetized and their armatures unattracted, theythen holding the drop or signal concealed. The visual signals or indicating-instruments are shown, in this instance, as composed of aneleetro-magnet and S-shaped armature pivoted between the poles of themagnet, and normally, when unattracted, engaging a latch on the movableindicator, which consists of a plate or disk provided with adistinguishing character-such, for instance, as a number or lettersupported on a pivoted lever, a, which is held, when engaged by thelatch, in position to keep the characterized plate concealed. When themagnet is energized, the attraction of its poles, acting on oppositesides of the armature above and below its pivot, turns the said armatureon its pivot a sufficient distance to disengage the latch, when thecharacterized plate will fall by gravity, turning the arm a on itspivot, and'com- 7 ing into proper positionto be seen through a ing outof a fire.

suitable opening in the inclosing-case. It is obvious, however, that anyother kind of indicating-instrument might be employed, the invention notdepending on the mechanical construction of the said instrument, theform shown being merely selected as one well adapted to co-operate withthe other parts of the apparatus.

The shunt-circuit from each instrument a passes to the apartment orlocality for which the said instrument is to indicateone, for instance,passing through each 'floor of a building, and containing any desirednumber of circuit-breakers, T, which are preferably of the class knownas thermostatic, they being operated by an increase or rise intemperature, such as would be produced by the break- By the breaking ofone of the shunt-circuits the whole current is caused to pass throughthe correspondinginstrument a, energizing its magnet and causing thedropsignal to fall in the usual manner, indicating by the characterthereon which shunt-circuit has been broken, and thus showing. thelocality in which the fire has broken out.

The arm a of each of the annunciator-instruments at operates a series ofcircuit-changers, the object of which will be hereinafter explained, thesaid circuit-changers consisting, in this instance, of spring-contactpieces operated by a cam-like projection, (1 on the arbor of the arm a,although it is obvious that the movement of the characterized plate orother part oftheindicating-instrument might change a circuitby' othermeans, the invention not being limited to the particular mechanicalconstruction shown. ()ne of the said circuitchangers, as b, closes ashunt around the corresponding drop-magnet, thereby removing itsresistance from the circuit immediately after it has been operated torelease the drop. Anotherof the said circuit-changers, as a, controlsthe transmitting-instrument d, consisting of a clock-work or motoractuating a-breakwheel or signaling-surface, e, of peculiarconstruction, the said clock-work being normally arrested or heldinoperative by an electro-magnet, f, which may be called thecontrollingmagnet, and is shown as included in the main ment d, settingthe wheel 6 in continuous rotation. The armature-lever of the magnet fengages the oscillating fan or pendulumd of the motor d. The wheel eismadelong enough ates with the spring springs and the portion of thebreak-wheel co- 7 that the fire is on the first floor.

of the wheel, and so on, the audible signal battery B passes toandthrough the magnets of the signal-instrument a, and thence is con'-;'tinued by wire 3 to the magnet h, thence by in the direction of itsaxis of rotation to cooperate with a series of contact-springs, g '9' 9one corresponding with each of the instruments at. The teeth orprojecting portions of the wheel that touch the springs or pens g, &c.,do not all extend across its entire width, but only one of the saidteethextends wholly across the drum, it cooperating with all thesprings, and being the only tooth that co-oper- As shown in thisinstance, two teeth have sufficient extent to cooperate with the springand three teeth with the spring g (See Fig. 3.) The wheels and springs gg, &c., constitute a multiple-signaltransmitting device, or one which iscapable of transmitting any desired one of a series of diii'erentdeterminate signals, each of the said operating with it constituting asignal-trans 5 mitting device controlling the circuit of asignaling-instrument, (shown, in this instance,: as a gong, h,) which,when the apparatus is used in connection with a building in a city,

may be placed outside the building in the street, and will sound analarm that may be heard throughout the entire neighborhood. The circuitfrom the springs 5 g 9 passes in in independent branches through thecircuitclosers-t', controlled by the instruments at, so that it is onlywhen one of the said circuitclosers is closed by the fall of thecorresponding drop that the corresponding spring will Y cooperate with awheel to give a signal. The magnet h of the signal 72 is preferably alsoincluded in themain circuit, and the wheel 6 operates to close a shunt,and thus demagnetize the magnet of the said signal, breaking and closingthe shunt aseach tooth passesun r0 der the spring. The circuit-closeriat the drop instrument a numbered one, indicating, for instance, thatthe fire is in the first floor of the building, connects the spring gincircuit with the signal-magnet h, and as but one tooth ofthe wheelereaches the said spring the said signal will give a single tap, repeatedat each rotation of the wheel, also indicating In a similar manner thedrop-instrument numbered two, for the second floor, connects the spring9 in circuit with the signal h, and the said spring, being acted upon bytwo teeth of the wheel 6, will strike two taps, repeated at eachrotation IIO 12c corresponding in each case to the visual signal, andindicating by number a particular apartment or floor of a building or aparticular 'bui'lding'of a group of buildings, as in a largemanufacturing establishment. The circuits are shown in full in Fig. 6,in which the circuit over which the current normally flows is shown inheavier lines than the branches or derived circuits. The circuit-wire 2from one pole'ofthe wire 4 to the controllingmagnet f of the trans- 1mitting-instrument, thence by wire 5 to an 1 indicating-magnet, k, forindicating the weakening or grounding of the circuit, as hereinafterexplained, and thence by wire 6 to the ground, the other pole of thebattery B being connected by wire 7 with the ground, and thus completingthe circuit. The coils of the magnets a are normally shunted by branchcircuits 8, of low resistance, each containing one or morecircuit-breakers, T, of any suitable character. The circuit-closers bcontrol shunts 9 for the magnets of the instrument a, the said shuntsbeing closed by the falling of the drop or operation of the signalcaused by the breaking of the corresponding shunt 8, as beforedescribed, and thus removing the resistance of the magnet from thecircuit immediately after ithas been energized to operate thesignal. Thewire 3 at one side of the magnet h of the audible signal is connected bywire 10 with one member of each of the circuit-closers i,the othermembers of which are respectively connected by wires 12 with the springsg g", &c., cooperating with the break-wheel e, which is itself connectedby wire 18 with the wire 4 at the otherside of the magnet h, so thatwhen any one of the circuit-closers t has been closed by the operationof the corresponding drop the shunt 10 1213 of the magnet h will beclosed whenever a projection of the wheel passes under the correspondingsprings, g g, &c., the circuit of which is closed at 71, thusdemagnetizing the said magnet h. and causing it to be subsequentlymagnetized when the projection of the. wheel passes the spring, so thata series of blows will be struck on the magnethat each rotation of thewheel 6, corresponding to the number of projections of the said wheelthat co-operate with the particular springs 9' 9 ,820., of which thecircuit is closed at t. The entire current normally passes through themagnet f, the armature of which is thus held attracted and bears on thefly or pendulum d of the wheel-work of the transmitter, preventing thesaid wheel-work from moving. The wires 4 5,

at either side of the said magnet f, are con nected by wires 14 15 withthe opposite members of the circuitclosers 0, so that when any one ofthe said circuit-closers is operated by the fall of one of the drops theshunt 14 15 of the magnetfis closed, demagnetizing the said magnet,andcausingits armature to release the train of the wheel-work. Thus in thenormal operation of the apparatus the breaking of one of the shunts 5causes the entire current to pass through the magnet of thecorresponding drop-instrument a, causingits drop total], and thelatterin turn closing the corresponding circuit-closers bi c,the formerof which,b, again shunts the drop-magnet, the second of which,t',completes the shunt of the magnet h as far as one of the springs of thebreak-wheel, and the latter, 0, shunts the magnet f, thus permitting thesaid break-wheel to be set in motion to feet as far as can be doneautomatically. The indicating-magnet To is included in thenormallyclosed circuit, and the retractor of its armature is so adjustedthat it will fall away when the current approaches a state of weaknessthat might interfere with the proper operation of the remainingapparatus, but while it is still strong enough to operate the otherinstruments. The said magnet k is placed in the circuit between all theother instruments and the ground,so that if the line is grounded at anypoint the magnet is will be short-circuited, and thus release itsarmature which controls a shunt, 16 17, for the magnet f shortcircuitingthe said magnet, and thus releasing the motor of thetransmitting-instrument. It will be seen that the breaking of the maincircuit will also cause the demagnetization of the magnet f, andconsequently the release of the motor (1,- but when the said motor isreleased otherwise than by the fall of one of the drops the shunts 10 1213 for the magnet h will remain open at i, so that no signal will betransmitted to the gong h, although the break-wheel continues torevolve. The said break'wheel or some part of the motor d isadapted,when released,to operate alocal alarm-signal,shown in Fig. 1 asconsisting of a bell, n, the hammer n of which is operated by a seriesof pins, if, on the break-wheel e, thus producing a continuous series oftaps on the bell it whenever the said motor is set in operation, andcalling attention to a defect in the circuit or weakening of the currentwhen the said signal operates without the previous or accompanyingoperation of one of the signals a or the signal h. visual signal,shownas a drop or hinged plate, 0, at the under side of the box A, it beingprovided with a hook or projection, 0', (see Figs. 1 and 4,) engaged byan arm, 0", extending from a rock-shaft, 0 provided with an arm, 0, inposition to be engaged and operated by a projection, 12, from one of theslow-moving wheels of thetrain ofwheel-work in the instrument (1.Thus,when the said instrument is released and runs for a short length oftime, the projection p will strikethe arm 0, (shown in plan View, Fig.4,) turning the rock-shaft 0 and the arm 0 sufficiently to disengage thelatter from the hook o,perniitting the said signal 0 to drop and bedisplayed at the outside of the case A, as shown in dotted lines, Fig.1, affording a further indication of the derangement of the circuit.

In order that the train may be stopped while the spring or actuator hassufficient power to transmit a signal in case a fire should subsequently occur, the shunt 16 17, controlled by the magnet 7c is providedwith a switch, 'r',operated by the projection 12 or some other part ofthe train of wheel-work to open the said shunt, and thus permit themagnet f to be again magnetized, stopping the train while its actuatingweightor spring is still in condition to move it farther in case afire-alarm is to be given. Just before the switch 1 is The motor (I isalso adapted to operate a IIO , transmitting instrument comprising amotor opened the clock-work operates, by a projection, 19, or otherwise,a pair of switches,m m, mechanically connected together,but insulatedfrom one another, the former of which opens the ground-Wire 6, removingthe ground from the extremity of the line remote from the battery, andthe latter, m, connects the wire 18 from an intermediate point in thebattery with ihe said terminal or extremity of the line,thus dividingthe battery into two parts, so that in case the main line has beengrounded at any point it will now constitute two independent groundedcircuits, one or the other of which will operate the instruments in casea firealarm is to be transmitted. One of the said circuits would includethe portion of the battery between the wires 7 and 18, passing from theground G over wire 7 through the said portion of the battery, and thenceby Wires 18 6 5, and so forth over the main circuit previously traced tothe grounded point on the said circuit, while the remainder of the maincircuit beyond the grounded point would include the portion of thebattery between the wires 2 and 18, or it would contain the entirebattery in case the main circuit between the grounded point and the wire18 should be broken. After the transmitter has been operated, either toproduce an alarm or owing to a derangement of the circuit, it will beagain wound up by the inspector, who will set it in proper position, andwill restore the signal 0 and switches r m m to their normal condition.The circuit will preferably contain a galvanometer, u, for indicatingthe strength of-the current.

Vie claim 1. The combination of a series of visual indicatingsignal-instruments, each of which, when operated, shows that achange hasbeen made in an electric circuit extending from said instruments to alocality corresponding to the said instrument, anda'multiple-signal-transmitting apparatus,and means governed by theindicating-instruments controlling the operation of the saidtransmitting apparatus,which is caused totransmit or produce a differentaudible signal for each visual instrument corresponding to theindication of the said instrument, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

2. The combination, with avisual indicating signaling-instrument, which,when operated, shows that a change has been made inan elec tric'circuitconnectedtherewith, of a signaland break-circuit device actuatedthereby, and a signaling-instrument and normally open or inoperativecircuit connecting it with the transmitting-instrument, and acircuit-closer in the latter circuit, operated by the visualsignalinginstrument, which renders the said circuit operative when the visualinstrument is operated, substantially as described.

. 3. The combination of a visual indicating signal with atransmitting-instrument consisting of a motor and controllingelec'tro-magn'et,

and a normally-open branch circuit or shunt around the said magnet andcircuitcloser therein, controlled by the said Visual indicating-signal,whereby the said transmitting-in- Strument is set in operation when thevisual signal is operated, substantially as described.

. 4. The combination of a series of visual indicating-instruments havingcontrolling-magnets in a normally-closed electric circuit and shunts oflow resistance around said magnets,

combined with a transmitting-instrument and circuitcontrollinginstruments operated by the visual instruments controlling both theoperation of the transmittinginstrument and the circuit over which ittransmits its signal, substantially as described.

' 5. A signal'transmitting instrument comprising a mechanical motor andcontrolling electromagnet therefor, included in a nor mally-closed maincircuit, having a normallyopen shuntcircuit, combined with a visualsignal operated by the said motor, which is set in operation by thebreaking of the main circuit or closing of the shunt, substantially asdescribed.

6. A signal-transmitting instrument operated by a mechanical motor, andprovided with a releasing electro-magnet in a closed electric circuit,the said electro-magnet having a controlling-shunt, 16 17, around itscoils, the said shunt containing two circuit-controllers, one of whichis normally closed and is mechanically opened by engagement with thesaid mechanical motor, and the other of which is normally open and isclosed by the release of the armature of an electro-magnet forming acomponent part of one of the said circuit-control'- lers, substantiallyas described.

7. In an automatic fire-alarm apparatus, a signal transmittinginstrument and electromagnet controlling the operation thereof, and anormally-closed electric circuit including the said controllingelectro-magnet, and a normally-opened shunt for the saidcontrollingmagnet, combined with an indicating electromagnet included inthe said circuit, adjusted to be operated by a predetermined weakeningof the circuit, and a circuit-closer operated thereby 'for the shunt ofthe transmitter-con trolling magnet, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

8. A series of signaling-instruments and a normally-closed groundelectric circuit controlling the operation thereof, combined'with anindicating electro-magnet included in circuit between the saidinstruments and the ground, and an electric switch and actuatingmechanism therefor controlledby the said indicating-magnet, by which theline -wire is disengaged from the ground, substantially as described.

9. A transmitting-instrument comprising a' motor and break-Wheel orcontact-surfaces, actuated thereby, and a series of contactspringsco-operating with different portions of the said contact surfaces,combined with a series of'visual signals, each'operated icy-a" change inan electric circuit connected therewith, and each controlling thecircuit of one of the said contact-springs, substantially as described.

10. In a signal apparatus, a motor and con trolling electro magnettherefor, combined with an audible signaling device mechanicallyactuated by the said motor, a visual signal device normally concealed,and releasing mechanism therefor operated by the said motor, whichreleases the said visual signal, permitting it to be displayed atthe endof aperiod of operation of the motor, substantially as described.

11. A metallic electric circuit or loop including a battery and anindicating electromagnet, the said circuit being normally connected withthe ground at a point between one of the poles of the battery and one ofthe terminals of the coils of the said electromagnet, and the saidbattery having a normally-open earth-branch connected at or near itscenter, combined with an electric switch adapted to be engaged by amotor mechanism and operated thereby to break the said normal connectionof thecircuit with the ground, and to close the saidnormallydisconnected groundbranch, substantially as described.

12. A normally closed and grounded electric circuit includingsignal-transmitting instruments, and having a battery in the said.circuit in proximity to one of its terminals,

